Maurice Gorham, journalist and author, proposed the idea of starting a literary museum in the 1970s.

[7] It is proposed that the building in 18 Parnell Square should be used as a museum to commemorate Harry Clarke, a stained glass artist from Dublin.

[1] It owned manuscripts, first editions, portraits, and personal mementos of many writers, including Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Patrick Kavanagh, William Butler Yeats, Brendan Behan, Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel, Edna O'Brien, Roddy Doyle, Martin McDonagh, and Colm Tóibín.

[1] It exhibited Jonathan Swift's coffee pot, the first edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Samuel Beckett's telephone, James Joyce's typewriter, and Brendan Behan's union cards and letter.

[11] Its exhibition was said to be filled with the belongings of "titans of Irish literature", although "most of those represented here are male and deceased".